


'Til Death Due Us Part

by MiniMoffat



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-11
Updated: 2013-08-11
Packaged: 2017-12-23 04:25:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/921956
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MiniMoffat/pseuds/MiniMoffat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hunger Games AU. Wooooo.</p>
            </blockquote>





	'Til Death Due Us Part

They met in school-- if you could call that broken down building with distraught teachers a school. The teachers always tried to be cheerful without getting too close to the students. There was always at least one that died. When Gendry had been in school, one year, it had gone up to seven, but that was from starvation, really. The districts had been hit hard that year, despite how much they had been able to give over to the Capitol. District 2 had been able to give everything over to the Capitol, but Panem had been hit hard with the seasons. Though, in every Capitol feed, it seemed they were eating like kings. 

It was usually just him and his mom before that, and they were happier than most. The black haired boy had learned quickly not to ask about his father-- for she always seemed to become distant for days on end after that had happened. His mother was young and beautiful-- which made him wonder if the boy had died in the Hunger Games. It didn’t matter, though. His mother had sheltered him far more than he could have thought. Gendry didn’t realize how much food his mother had given him-- not until she had come down sick. It was too late, then. He kept quiet for as long as he could, insisting on living in the same house. The boy grew very thin, and during class when someone had asked him what was wrong, he had made the mistake of lashing out.

The sun was shining bright as he sat against the wall of the school outside. A shadow walked in front of him, though he refused to look up towards the figure.

“I’m sorry about your mom,” A female voice said quietly, “My dad died, too,” Gendry nearly lashed out again. He didn’t  care  about some stupid girl’s dad. She would have still had her mom! What did it matter! He had  _nothing_!  Taking a deep breath, he shielded his eyes from the sun, getting a better glance of the girl.

_She’s the traitor’s daughter._

Gendry’s heart stopped cold, mouth dropping. She had cut her hair since he had last paid any attention to her-- probably due to the fact that her family had now become the laughing stock of Panem. Aside from her sister, of course. Her sister had been swept off to the Capitol as a hostage, though they tried to mask it with the title of a marriage. Anyone from District 2 knew that Sansa had only dreamed of living in the Capitol before their father’s death. She had refused to eat after that, her face no longer full of life. It was quick when they descended and grabbed her from her home.

“I’m sorry about your dad,” He had merely said, scooting from the corner of the wall to make a spot for the girl. Gendry didn’t quite know why he cared, but he did. She was so small. Even though they were supposed to be from a District that bred Careers, they had given up hope after a five year streak of District 2 losses. No one wanted to train anymore. No one volunteered.

He wasn’t quite sure how it happened, but that girl had kept bothering and bothering him until he felt a certain fondness towards her. They shared each other’s secrets, even after Gendry had been pulled out of school when someone had anonymously paid for him to begin working early. More often than not, Arya would skip school and sit around while he made weapons-- teasing him about how they didn’t look right. Even though it drove him mad, Gendry knew that she was right. Because of her, he had become a better smith. It wasn’t long before the Capitol had gained an interest in the young boy, asking him specifically for different supplies. It was easy to tell which weapons and armor he had made in the Games.

They had spent two years laughing together. Arya had insisted they trained their hearts out in case they were called up someday. He knew she wouldn’t, though. She  never  got extra food for her family. Gendry was always the one who would give it to her. He would make up some excuse saying the Capitol had brought him something for a trade or that he had extra from his monthly rations. She was too dense to realize there was too much that he had given her. Along with the monthly food he got for himself, he would get extra for her. Gendry didn’t care how many times his name was put into the drawing for the Capitol. He had been stupid, thinking that because of his alliance with the Capitol, he wouldn’t get picked. Small, stubborn Arya was the only person he was worried about.

Without Arya, he’d be lost.

Then it came. Just like the past two years, the two had dressed in their nicest. They said goodbye to Arya’s mother and brothers and left holding hands. They were quiet to the walk to the reaping. There was always a certain fear inside of the boy that her name would be called. He wouldn’t be able to volunteer for her, either. It was a boy and a girl from each district. If Arya had been called, there was no trading her for someone else. He had to keep telling himself that she’d win. She was faster than most girls her age and skilled with a knife and sword. More often than not, she was able to hit the target  somewhere with a bow and arrow. Gendry had to keep confidence in her. If her name was called, she would win.

The Reaping was quiet as usual. District 2 had lost once again, causing no volunteers right off. He chewed on his lower lip, looking for the short girl in the crowd. She stood in the same place every time, but he could never find her among the heads of the taller girls surrounding her. He just needed to make eye contact with her, give her a nod telling her everything would be okay. It was his last year and she only had two more. They could make it after that.

_Maybe I’ll ask her to marry me after that._

“Where is Gendry Waters?” A voice rang, causing him to blink a couple times. He had been lost in thought to the point where he hadn’t heard them call his name. That was when he saw the grey eyes of the girl he had been looking for. He could see the fear on Arya’s face as plain as day. Clenching his fists, he forced a smile upon his lips. It was all he could do now. He would win for her.

Walking up to the podium, he could hear the whispers surrounding them. He could see Arya trying to fight back tears, a girl holding her back so she wouldn’t run up and try to beat down the woman who had called his name. She was so angry, Gendry couldn’t help but laugh lightly. ‘It’s okay,’ he mouthed to her, though it only made her struggle more. Blue eyes moved down to the wood underneath him, trying to push the thoughts of what he’d have to do from his mind.

“And now for the ladies,” The voice chimed as she reached her hand into a bowl. “Arya Stark! Come here, darling!”

That was the day that Gendry Waters knew he was going to die.

Gendry hadn’t left her side since then aside from the interviews and individual training. Everything he did was for her. The boy turned up the charm for the interviews, talked to potential sponsors, tried his best at every training. When Arya wasn’t listening, he would tell the sponsors the truth, though. It was all for her. She was going to be the winner. If they wanted to sponsor him, they had to sponsor her. He told them he was not afraid of not making it out of there, but afraid that she wouldn’t.

But where were they now? The sponsors had pulled through for him, which he was more thankful for than he could ever express. Arya had found a sword and he had found a hammer. How many people had died at their hands?  Six.  He told himself.  _One from District 1, both of the District 12 players, one from District 4 and District 3._ The one in front of him was from District 5. And they had done it.

Staring down towards the broken body, he felt a mix of pain and euphoria running through him. Arya couldn’t help but laugh. They had made it so far. They were the final two. It seemed she didn’t quite realize what that meant. Gendry looked towards her, reflecting the smile back towards the young girl. She moved to hug him and he wrapped his arms tightly around her, burying his face into the crook of her neck.

“We made it,” She said quietly into his ear. He forced a laugh from his lips, trying to seem happy.

“We did, Arya. Thank you,” Perhaps it was strange to say, but the girl didn’t think much of it. She pulled away and looked towards the sky, a frown forming on her lips. He could almost see the questions running through her mind. Why weren’t they coming? “We’ve probably got to spend the night. Maybe we miscounted or something,” Gendry insisted, grabbing her hand and bringing her to a tree so that she could lean her back against it. “Get some rest. We’ll be home tomorrow,” The black haired boy insisted. Arya gave him a strange look, wanting to protest. She knew something was wrong, but she didn’t want to ask what. Perhaps she knew by now-- he wasn’t sure.

_We can’t stay here forever, Arya._

They’d send things after the two of them. Both of them could die if they weren’t careful. Hell,  Arya  dying would be worse to him. He sat with her until her breathing became even and she made soft noises as she slept. She was having a bad dream, as it seemed all the players did once they entered the arena. Gendry just stared at her for a moment, hands moving to wrap around her own. Biting down on his lip for a moment, he fought the urge to wake her and tell her goodbye-- to beg her to kill him instead so at least he would be able to see her before he died.

She wouldn’t do it, though. There could only be one and he knew Arya wouldn’t be able to slit his throat after all they had been through. They had laughed together, cried together. He loved her, though. This was the only favor he could do for her. Quietly, he unbuckled the sword from her hip, leaning over to kiss her forehead gently. She stirred slightly, causing Gendry to hold his breath and stop moving. She wouldn’t wake, though. He understood. Arya needed rest. They  both  needed rest.

Gripping the sheath tightly, he felt the familiar grooves of it. Everything he made was at least somewhat decorative. It was boring to give the Capitol the same thing over and over again. Moving towards the Cornucopia, he watched the sky for just a moment.

“Is this what you want?” He said loudly, positive that Arya wouldn’t be able to hear from her slumber in the distance. “Did you know that if she lived, I wouldn’t?!” Gendry’s voice grew louder. He unsheathed the sword from it’s grasp, staring at it with the moonlight bouncing off the steel. Warm tears fell down his cheeks, but he couldn’t bring himself to make any noise. It’d be too much of a show for the people watching. All the recaps that Arya would be forced to watch. Could he let her see how much he wished he could have stayed with her? A part of him wished. If she had known how much he had grown used to her, how much she had eventually meant to him, would she be able to carry on? Or would guilt cloud everything about her? No-- Gendry hadn’t been able to risk it. There was no way he could have told anyone how he felt about Arya Stark, the traitor’s daughter.

He almost hadn’t been able to feel the metal digging into his stomach until the taste of blood started bubbling up inside of his mouth. Gendry’s vision began to blur, a sudden pain driving through his whole body. Falling to the ground, he grasped tightly at the grass, a moan escaping his lips. “Arry...” He had managed to get out, trying to crawl his way back to where she slept. The smith had only made it a few feet before his vision went black, body convulsing on the ground.

The final cannon went off, signaling another death inside the arena. Arya’s eyes opened wide, confusion sweeping over her almost immediately. “Gendry?” She mumbled out before realizing he wasn’t there. It immediately went to the daytime, causing her to get to her feet quickly. “Gendry?!” She yelled, panic laced in her voice.  _Damn it, Gendry!_ She thought, rushing off through the woods. Had they miscounted after all? Where was he?! The girl nearly tripped over the roots and she could hear them coming to grab her.  No, no!  She thought, making her way towards the clearing of the cornucopia.

“Arya Stark, our winner!” The announcer beamed, eyes finding the broken body of the boy she had once known.

“No, no!” She yelled, voice cracking as her feet began to pick up pace and run to him. She wasn’t quite sure what was holding her back at this point. Arya couldn’t see anything but Gendry. The people next to her were trying to tell her it was okay, that she won and she was going to go home. Her partner had given up his life so that she could win. Arya didn’t hear anything, though. Tears were rolling down her cheeks and she had been able to squirm her way past them, dropping on her knees next to Gendry’s body. “You stupid, stupid boy!” She yelled, pulling him so that he lay on his back. Her hands moved to slap him, the tears falling harder and harder. “Stupid, stupid!” Arya screamed. She could almost hear him there, teasing her and calling her m’lady-- insisting that she belonged in the Capitol. It was just a stupid joke they had. He was stupid and she was his lady. Her hands moved to grasp at his short hair, banging his head on the ground. “Wake up! We’re going home!  _Please_!”  She pleaded. The two men tried to come up to her once again, though she only clung to the body more. Her hands grasped the fabric of his shirt, not caring about the blood getting on her hands. Snot ran down her nose and into her mouth, though she couldn’t stop crying.

He was the only family that she cared about anymore. After her father’s death, everyone else had grown distant. Gendry was the only person who wasn’t a constant reminder to her that the Starks were traitors. That was gone now. It felt as if her whole family had died along with him. “Please,” She whimpered, body growing too tired to fight anymore. One of the men was finally able to pull her off of the body, a net coming to pick up the one of the boy.

“Did you love him?” The voice of the interviewer said, causing her to blink away the tears that had formed in her eyes once more. She was in a dress, sitting in the comfortable chair.  _I won._ She reminded herself.

“Excuse me?” Arya said, furrowing her brows.

“Did you not see the footage?” The man said, raising a brow before signaling to the cameras to reroll what they had just played. Arya’s grey eyes moved to watch the boy leaning over to kiss her, followed by watching the tears roll down his face as he yelled towards the people who ran the Games. “There’s a lot of people out there saying he did it because he loved you,” Arya’s hands moved to wipe at her eyes and she shook her head.

**  
**

“He didn’t,” She insisted, “He was just a  _stupid_ boy,”


End file.
